Montco Housing Prices Zoom Realty Costs Grew Three Times Faster Than Income In '80s

January 14, 1993|by LESLIE KLEIN FUNK, The Morning Call

The cost of housing grew three times faster than household income in Montgomery County from 1979 to 1989, making it more difficult for people to afford a home.

That is the reverse of the situation nationwide, where income increased six times faster than housing values, U.S. census figures show.

The median value of a house in Montgomery County rose from $60,600 to $143,400, a county Planning Commission analysis of the census figures shows.

Median value means half the homes were worth more than $143,400 in 1989 and half were worth less than that.

But when inflation is taken into account, the percentage increase in the value was 44.8 percent, said Sarah E. Flaks, the county planner who reported on the analysis yesterday.

Median household income jumped from $22,508 to $43,720 -- but by just 15.7 percent after inflation.

"The growing gap shows a decrease in the ability to afford a house," Flaks said.

In Bucks County, the median housing value shot up from $56,200 to $140,000, or 52.5 percent after inflation, while median household income increased from $22,016 to $43,347, or 17.3 percent after inflation.

The trends in Bucks and Montgomery are similar to those of Pennsylvania as a whole, although real estate values and incomes in the suburban Philadelphia counties are greater than those statewide.

The median housing value for the state rose from $39,100 to $69,700, or 9.1 percent after inflation. The median household income inched up from $16,880 to $31,750, or just 2.6 percent after inflation.

Nationwide, the median housing value edged up 2.4 percent, but the median household income jumped 12.3 percent after inflation.

The median housing value in the United States rose from $47,300 to $79,100, while the median household income increased from $16,841 to $31,750.

In Montgomery County, the largest after-inflation increase in median housing value was posted in Lower Gwynedd Township, where it rocketed by 85.8 percent.

The smallest came in Schwenksville, at 23.4 percent.

The municipalities in the Upper Perkiomen and Indian Valley areas showed changes in median housing values fairly close to those posted in the county as a whole, except for Pennsburg borough and Salford and Upper Salford townships.

Pennsburg was below the county rate, with an increase in median housing value that was 35.8 percent after inflation.

Salford and Upper Salford were on the high end, posting increases of 55.1 percent and 57.7 percent, respectively.